Queen's Baton Relay to visit World Championships

BADMINTONscotland were thrilled today with the announcement that the Queen's Baton Relay will make a stop at the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017 on the first day of its five-day programme of events and celebrations in the countdown to next year's Commonwealth Games in Australia's Gold Coast.

The Baton arrives at Glasgow Airport on 22 August and will spend the first day of the tour visiting legacy projects, including BADMINTONscotland's Big Hit Festival schools event taking place at the Emirates Arena during the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017.

The Baton Relay was launched on Commonwealth Day, 13 March, at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Earl of Wessex, sending it on its global tour. Fittingly, the Earl of Wessex is BADMINTONscotland's long-standing Patron and is expected to visit the World Championships.

Anne Smillie, Chief Executive of BADMINTONscotland, said: "We are delighted that the Baton Relay is stopping at the Emirates Arena on day two of the World Championships. Legacy programmes are a pivotal part of our major events programme and the schoolchildren taking part in the Big Hit Festivals will be excited to be part of the Relay's journey.

"Our legacy target, built around staging these World Championships, is to get 25,000 youngsters playing the sport and the visit by the Baton can only help raise awareness of what we are trying to achieve."

The Big Hit Festivals will run for the first five days of the Championships, which will be held at the Emirates Arena from 21 - 27 August.

Team Scotland has produced a five-day programme of events and celebrations to mark the visit of the Gold Coast 2018 Queen's Baton Relay. It represents a short visit compared to the 42-day Relay when Scotland hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014 but the emphasis is spending quality time in each community it visits.